"Fuck!!" Faith screamed, ducking as the roof of the Malibu caved in,
clipping her scalp and sending a jolt of pain through her head. Beside her
Wesley ducked low and opened the door, diving out of it and into the
parking lot.

She followed his example and dived out on her side, hitting the pavement
at a roll. She came up on her feet and glared at the demon on the roof.
Her eyes widened when she saw the thing perched atop the car.

She looked like a featherless gryphon, veiny
wings spread wide in a clear statement of her challenge, human breasts
bare as she breathed hard and her short tail
whipping the air. Her eyes were gold and stood out in the mottled red skin
and they looked at her shrewdly, as if there was much more intelligence
behind the eyes than you would think by looking at her. Faith caught the
stark black tattoo over the golden eyes and cursed under her breath.

"Faith!" Wesley called, climbing to his feet as
Cordelia and Angel jumped out of the truck.
Cordelia ran to the bed of the truck and slid
out two swords, tossing one to Angel and one to Wesley.
"Orin!" The Watcher screamed the name as it
flashed across his memory.

"Wes! No!" She said, waving her arms and distracting the demon as she
leapt off the truck, taloned hands clawing the
air where Wesley had been as he slid out of the way. She turned her
attention on Faith and hissed, beak clacking.

"Ssslayer!"

"You got me! And now what are you going to do with me, huh? Your sisters
sure as hell had a hard time deciding and they ended up with a serious
case of dead." Faith said, taunting the demon and keeping her eye on the
two men behind the thing. She saw Cordelia
slide two axes out of the bed of the truck and heft one her way, waiting
for the opportunity to throw it to her.

"Sssso?" Orin
hissed, her anger taking away her ability to speak clearly. A growl
rumbled her chest and her wings beat the air, sending the smell of rotten
meat toward Faith. A moment later the demon leapt at her, claws extended,
sharp beak open and ready to gore her.

"Cordelia!" Faith
held up her hand and the Seer threw the axe at her, praying her aim was
good.

Faith jumped up, muscles uncoiling and her fingers wrapping around the
leather wrapped handle, just in time to bring it arching down at the
sister before her. The edge of the blade caught her on the arm and sticky
brown blood oozed from the wound. The demon wailed and swiped at Faith,
cuffing her on the ear and knocking her backward.

Angel and Wesley rushed in, blades extended and flashing in the overhead
parking lights. Cordelia circled them and
helped Faith to her feet. "Wesley!" Faith shouted as soon as she was on
her feet again. Cordelia pulled her back just
as the demon's tail swiped at the air where she would have been.

With a wrench, Faith pulled out of Cordelia's
grip and dived back into the fray. "You're welcome."
Cordelia muttered and dived after her, axe held aloft.

Angel ducked another blow from the demon's talons, sword swinging and
slicking off a finger. Blood sprayed in the air and he smiled widely,
then swung the sword again. Yowling in pain,
the demon jumped out of the way and went for the human next to the
vampire, sharp talons catching him on the shoulder before he brought the
sword slamming into her beak. A deep scratch on the red, hard flesh made
her scream and kick out with her short legs. The human flew backward and
slammed into the crushed car.

"Listen here, bitch! No one fucks with my Watcher!" Faith said, leaping
onto the demon's back and hooking her feet around the wings. The demon
wailed again as the blade of her axe was pressed to the smooth red throat.

"Faith! Watch out!"
Cordelia called as the tail slammed into the Slayer's legs and
nearly knocked her off. A luck swing with Cordy's
axe and the tail was broken in two, bloody stump oozing brown blood
everywhere. Orin looked back and shot out her leg, catching the Seer and
sending her reeling into the pavement, the axe skittering across the lot.

"Cordy!" Angel screamed and swiped again at
the demon, narrowly missing Wesley as the Watcher rushed forward and dived
at the huge demon's middle. Orin screamed and thrashed at the human around
her middle. "Wes! Move!"

Wesley ignored him and jerked his sword back and then buried it between
Orin's ribs. The demon doubled over, Faith still clinging to her thick
neck and trying to bring her axe up for a killing blow. Orin swiped at
Wesley and he went flying, landing on the roof of the truck and falling
off the other side.

Angel saw him go and rammed his sword next to the Watcher's, feeling it
hit something vital and scrape against bone. The demon reared up and
launched herself in the sky, the Slayer still clinging to her neck.
Cordelia, on her feet now, swung the axe again
and clipped the demon's toes as she flew off.

"Shit! Faith! Let go!" Cordy screamed as the
demon pumped her wings harder, sending the Slayer and herself higher up in
the sky. Blood rained down at them from the wounds they'd inflicted, but
the demon was obviously made of stronger stuff than she looked.

Atop Orin's back, Faith clung with her nails, eyes wide as she saw the
world fading away to a black dot below her. "Listen up bitch. Bring us
down or I'm going to slit your throat right here."

"Kill ussss both?" Orin hissed,
her wings pumping as she spiraled up higher in the black sky.

"Shit." Faith muttered and thought of a better plan.
"Fine. I guess I'll just have to take control of this crazy train."

With that, she leveled herself up, booted feet pressing down on the
demon's wings, all the power in her legs folding the demon's wings up
against her body. With a wrench, Faith grabbed the huge head in her hands
and forced her hands over the golden eyes. Wings folded and blinded, Orin
reacted just like any bird would; she plummeted to earth, the wind cupping
them as they shot downward.

Faith held on and hoped she hadn't just killed herself. And she hoped
Angel knew how to catch.

*****

"When did you last see her?" Quentin Travers asked the dirty man
before him, his nose wrinkled against the offensive odor of the Slayer's
hovel.

"About five days ago, I think. I was going to wait a week before I turned
her in, ya know?" Rob answered him, red-rimmed
eyes liquid as he looked with some confusion at the Council of Watchers
gathered around him. "Bout four days ago this big guy and this hot chick
came looking for her. Angel, he said his name was, I think."

"The vampire. Do you think he'll be a problem?"
Patil asked, his dark eyes gazing out at
Travers.

"He always is. That must have been who Connelly was contacting.
Either that or Mr. Wyndham-Pryce, although I would be
surprised if he would be willing to help her, considering their past."
Lydia clipped in a rushed voice, always eager to be the first with
information.

"Mr. Wyndham-Pryce is a strange man, with strange loyalties; I would not
put it past him to do the opposite of what is expected of him. No matter
why the vampire with the soul is looking for her, she won't get far."
Travers said in his gravelly voice, sharp green eyes sweeping the room and
settling back on the dirty American before him. Rob shifted uncomfortably
under that icy gaze.

"She won't get far with the Sister's after her."
Patil said, patented sneer claiming his features and making him
look like a jackal.

"I'm losing faith in the Five, dear Armand.
Three are dead as we speak and Lian has
stopped her pursuit of the Slayer. Our hopes hinge on Orin and her
intelligence is reputedly dim. No, I'm afraid we'll have to track the
Slayer ourselves and make her pay for her crimes."

"Good." Patil said, bloodthirsty glint in his
eyes. Travers grunted and looked over at the probation officer, his nose
wrinkling in disdain once more.

"If Faith comes back, ring this number. And if you keep her disappearance
a secret a while longer, you'll receive a hefty reward." Travers said,
pulling out a fat wad of dollars and flashing them at the man. His eyes
got wide and he shook his head, nasty tongue darting out and licking his
thin lips.

"Sure. Half now, half later?"

"Of course." Travers handed him half the cash and then turned on
his heel, beckoning his fellow Watcher's to follow him.

Rob looked down at the card and the money in his hands and then glanced up
as the Watcher's swept out of the room. Whoever Faith had been before
prison, someone hadn't forgotten about her. He smiled and pocketed the
cash, realizing it was more money than he made in a week. Fuck, for that
kinda cash, he'd sell out his grandma.

But what the hell was a Slayer? And did they mention vampires? Rob shook
his head and lit a cigarette. "Weirdos..."

*****

Angel looked up, his eyes much keener in the darkness than the two humans
beside him. "Do you see her?" Wesley asked in a
tense voice, his hands wrapped around the pommel of the blade and his eyes
bulging.

Angel looked over at the former boss of Angel Investigations and shook his
head, his fists clenching and unclenching as he searched the sky. Suddenly
an ear-splitting shriek filled the sky and Angel picked out something red
and fast pelting out of the sky.

"Fuck! They're going to hit!" Angel said, watching the Slayer growing
closer and closer with each moment, the huge demon's wings folded into her
sides and her yellow eyes covered by the Slayer's hands.

"Faith!" Wesley screamed in a strangled voice,
his eyes bulging and his breath hitching in his throat.
Cordelia's gaze flickered over at him sharply
before she turned her attention back to the pair in the sky.

"Angel!" Faith's voice was wrapped around the wind and it assaulted his
ears, sparking him into movement and knowing immediately what the girl had
planned. He steeled himself and ran under her, feeling like a clown at a
circus holding a sheet, but knowing it was much more serious than that.
And this was going to hurt....

Through the darkness, he saw Faith launch herself off Orin's back and
plummet toward him, dark hair streaming around her terrified face. Time
slowed and he was vaguely aware of Orin's wings flaring and catching the
wind, but not in time to stop her from crashing into the Malibu once more.
A second later, he plucked Faith out of the sky, his knees buckling with
her weight and his body slamming into the pavement, ribs cracking under
her weight.

They rolled several feet, the wind rushing out of Faith's lungs and her
head slamming against the pavement with a sickening crack. Her eyes rolled
up in her head and she fell into darkness.

"Angel!"

"Faith!"

Cordelia, eyes so wide they looked like they
were about to pop out of her head, was the first of the two to rush
forward. She fell to her knees beside the motionless Angel and pulled him
off the unconscious Slayer, his head lolling back.

"Angel...Angel are you okay?" She hit his cheek with the palm of her hand
twice before his eyes flitted open and he groaned in pain. "Oh thank God!"

"Is she okay?" Angel said, looking over at the fallen Slayer. He watched
as Wesley sank down beside her and pulled her head into his lap, fingers
brushing against her cheeks and tears forming in his eyes.

"Don't leave me. Faith! Come back!" His voice was pathetic and child-like
as he petted her cheek and rocked her in his lap.
Cordelia exchanged a glance with Angel, confusion plain in her
eyes. What the hell had happened the past
couple of days?

"Wesley! She's okay...she's just knocked out. Come on...."
Cordelia moved into action, tugging at the
Watcher's arm as Angel picked the girl up. Wesley stood and took hold of
Faith's limp hand and walking along beside Angel, his eyes glued to the
Slayer's face.

Cordelia swung the passenger side door of the
truck open and Wesley slid in, reaching out to take the girl from him.
Angel placed her on his lap and watched as Wesley cradled her head as
tenderly as he might a child. He opened his mouth to say something, but he
caught movement out of the corner of his eye and he saw Orin stirring,
talons scraping the air as she tried to move off the crushed Malibu.

"No time...we gotta get her to a hospital."
Angel said, rounding the car and opening the door.
Cordelia climbed in and he followed, squeezing into the space left
and tearing out of the parking lot as fast as he could go. He pointed the
truck toward L.A. and slammed the pedal
to the floorboard, glancing every two seconds over at Wesley, who was
still holding onto Faith like she was his world.

Suddenly, the Slayer's dark brown orbs flitted
open and she gazed up at Wesley, a ghostly smile crossing her lips. "That
was wicked cool." A beat and then her eyes rolled up in her head again and
her head slumped on his shoulder. Wesley laughed,
worry still glinting in his eyes, and pressed his lips to her
forehead in a tender kiss. Cordelia watched
the exchange with wide eyes.